


Hugs and hair ties

by Greenisher



Series: The rewards of being loved [3]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Amity Blight is Hooty's only known predator, Eda Clawthorne is Luz Noceda's Parent, Everyone thinks Willow is amazing because she is, F/F, Gay Disaster Amity Blight, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Luz Noceda is a Good Girlfriend, Touch-Starved Amity Blight, Underage Kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenisher/pseuds/Greenisher
Summary: "No other Blight had ever died of Just Being Very Extremely Gay For A Human before. So, she’d make history there. "Amity has been trying to get Luz to play with her hair, with mixed results. Good thing she's got a trusted source to get relationship advice from!(It's the twins.)
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: The rewards of being loved [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119710
Comments: 12
Kudos: 275





	Hugs and hair ties

**Author's Note:**

> This series was originally a trilogy ending here but writing gay disaster Amity Blight is Very Good, and I wish to continue for forever. Perhaps more shall come.

Luz being Amity's girlfriend was a lightly kept secret. Her mom and dad didn't know - Amity had planned meticulously how to tell them, and when to tell them, when being  _ approximately three years after she married Luz _ and how being  _ a newspaper ad designed to be displayed after she had successfully gone into hiding and was completely unreachable _ \- but everyone else seemed to know pretty quick. 

She'd expected people to freak out but...really, people had been kinda good about it. Boscha had rolled her eyes and commented loudly on Amity throwing her lot in with the freaks and the round-eared weirdo, but she did that a lot these days anyway. Willow, who didn't one hundred percent trust her yet, had been gentle and kind. Gus was really happy about the whole thing and had been generally adorable, although she could do without someone commentating on her attempts to subtly brush her fingers over Luz's as Gus tended to do. 

("Oh, she went for the hand grab! Classic move! But is it  _ too _ classic?")

Every time a person was accepting about it, she saw Luz release a little sigh as she dropped some fear she seemed to be holding. When people weren't so nice, Luz would get a little tense and after would ask her softly, "was that because I'm human?" and then appear to relax again when Amity confirmed, yes, they think it's weird to date a human. Yes, they'd still think it was weird if you were a male human. Why? And Luz would relax and shake her head, a wobbly smile on her face.

("Is this to do with the flag thing?" Amity finally asked after the third time Luz checked.

"Kind of." Luz shifted, uncomfortable. "I wanna...you know. I wanna be sure they're okay with you. Being you? And stuff."

"I...don't follow."

"I wanna know if it's the human thing or the gay thing that they don't like. You know. Like…Will they keep giving you that look if I went home tomorrow and couldn't be nearby to hold your hand when they're mean? Would they still be mean if it was another girl and not me?"

"Oh, it would probably depend on the girl," Amity had told her. "Willow? Yes, but not as bad. Boscha? No."

"Willow, eh?"

"I don't like where this is going."

"So  _ Willow _ is an option for you when I go home?" Luz putting her chin on her hand, grinning at her.

"This conversation is  _ absolutely _ over." Half because oh gosh she couldn't think of Willow that way after all she'd done to her, and half because she was privately and secretly hoping that Luz absolutely never went home and it was important to stop any conversations about the future to stop  _ that _ idea lingering.)

In Luz's room, sat on the floor while they did their homework, Amity tugged her girlfriend's legs on top of her own and took comfort from how Luz's gangly human legs draped over her own. Being able to rest her hand on Luz's knee as she read was a wonderful motivator. 

Luz was nose deep in a book about wild magic, learning about glyphs in nature, eyebrows knitted together, both hands on the thick textbook. Every time Amity finished a paragraph, she rewarded herself by glancing up at Luz, examining the features of her face. Her human caught her finally, ten paragraphs in, looking up at her over the big old book with a questioning smile, and that was. Well, it was a lot.

Amity smiled back because that was an automatic response to seeing Luz, and glanced away because sometimes it felt like Luz was a light that shone too bright to look directly into. When she did, Luz gasped. "Oh my gosh! Your undercut!"

"What?" Amity looked back, concerned, reaching up under the back of her hair, feeling it. Was something wrong with it? 

"It's so cute," Luz was gazing up at her with shining eyes, book closing. "I keep forgetting it's there and then sometimes your hair does that cool flippy thing and I see it. It's  _ so _ cute."

Amity felt her face grow hot. Not the first time. Definitely not the last time. She looked down at Luz's legs in her lap, how perfect they were, and wished she could come up with a compliment for how much she liked them that she wouldn't stammer over. Something she could return to Luz. She looked up and made eye contact with the other girl's big brown eyes, her beautiful smile, and felt immediately overcome. "I. You. Your hair is…" Why was it hard to speak? She reached out and placed her hand flat on Luz's head. "So good. Soft! Very soft and good."

Luz grinned at her, and hugged her close, which pulled her almost completely onto Amity's lap. That was almost too much, even as it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to her. "My hair  _ is _ great, but your undercut is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Can I touch it?"

Amity opened her mouth as two facts rearranged themselves in her mind. Fact one: she absolutely needed to feel what it was like to have Luz playing with her hair. Fact two: her heart was thudding so fast in her chest right now from the idea that Luz  _ actually  _ playing with her hair might give her a heart attack.

Might as well. Right?

"Yeah," she said, face hot. "You can touch it."

Luz leaned in -  _ so close to her face _ \- and her hand slid up the back of her head. Luz was watching her with a look of deep concentration, fingers tracing the shape of her head. Amity moved her own hand, trying to balance Luz on her lap and finding that resting her hand on Luz's thigh both felt good and kept her steady. She gazed up at her human, completely lost, as she felt the soft, careful sensation of fingers running through the short hair at the back of her head, her bare neck.

That felt so good that when King interrupted by charging into the room with his face pushed through a slice of bread while yelling "LUZ! I'M ON A ROLL!" Amity found herself deciding that she  _ needed _ it to happen again.  _ Needed _ . Could not survive a life so cruel that it came without Luz Noceda sitting on her lap and playing with her hair again.

Their next few  _ let's do homework together until we eventually end up kissing _ sessions did not feature Luz playing with her hair, to her disappointment. Ever the scientist, she'd done her best to recreate the circumstances; about half way through homework she'd either tug Luz's legs onto her own, or scoop her up if she was lying down somewhere, and balance her on her lap. This usually led to Luz sighing happily and resting her head on Amity's shoulder. That was very nice. It wasn't quite hair-rubbing nice. But it was still very good.

So she tried a new strategy: Edric's hair stuff.

Edric had the sort of cupboard of supplies that Amity wished she could have. The twins' bathroom was filled with bottles and elixirs and colognes and perfumes. Edric's shelf contained a glittering array of hair care products that left her dizzy when she examined them, hand on her chin as she tried to calculate which of them, in which configuration and quantity, she could use to get Luz to run her fingers through her hair again. 

On day one of sneaking in, she tried a potion that promised  _ great hold _ but was horrified to find it left her hair crunchy and thick.  _ That _ was immediately washed out.

Day two, she tried one of the oils, only to find it weighed her hair down unpleasantly, and felt weirdly  _ wet _ when she brushed it. That had to go too. 

Day three there was no time to experiment. The twins had hogged their bathroom all morning. She waited for them to leave for school, telling them she'd catch up, and then sneaked into their bathroom. There was no time to properly evaluate; she grabbed something that had the words HAIR TONIC on it and smelled very pleasant, and quickly ran it through her hair before sprinting off to catch up with her siblings.

Edric, of course, noticed before she did. "Mittens," he said, arm wrapping around her shoulders. "You haven't been going through my things, have you?"

"That's a weird question," Amity said, avoiding answering.

"Sure is," Edric said as they walked, moving to her left side. Emira was also smiling, walking on her right side. This was dangerous. She was trapped between them. What had happened? "Haven't been using anything in my cupboard?"

"What's with the questions this morning?"

"Nothing labeled hair tonic?"

_ Oh no _ . "Why would I…"

"Hair tonic is for when you want to grow out your hair," Emira cut in. "We got it after Ed shaved his eyebrows."

"I don't want to grow out my hair!"

"Too bad," Edric said, and grabbed a strand of her light green hair. To her horror, she saw it was somehow down to her shoulders already.  _ Oh no _ . "Because it's growing."

"I don't want it to grow out!" She stopped where she was, holding the extra long hair, looking up at her older siblings with desperation. "You have to help!"

There was nothing wrong with long hair. But Luz liked her hair  _ now _ . And besides, she'd have to re-dye  _ everything _ ; as her hair was growing, it was growing out in her natural honey brown colour, leaving only the last few inches green. Emira laughed, but it was gentle. She drew a circle in the air, and with a spell that Amity didn't know how to use yet, stopped the growth of hair. 

Edric helped, drawing another circle to cut it. It wasn't quite right, because Ed didn't usually do her hair. But it was  _ nearly _ right, just under her chin. Em finished things off, re-colouring what was left with a grin. "Now," said Em, leaning in to re-tie her half ponytail with a spare hairband of her own. "Why  _ have _ you been going through our things?"

Amity went red. "Come on, Mittens," Ed said, gently. "You can tell us."

"You'll tell  _ everyone _ !"

"We don't tell everyone  _ everything _ ," Ed said, ruffling her newly fixed hair out of place.

"Yeah, or everyone would know that Ed tripped over his face in the plant track homeroom and got half eaten by Willow's weird shrubbery."

"I remember you telling me you wouldn't tell  _ anyone _ about that." 

"Amity won't tell anyone, right, Mittens?"

Amity looked at her feet as they talked, face red. Unfortunately, this was the same as giving the game away. "Oh," said Ed. "It's a  _ Luz _ thing."

"Figures," Em laughed, but it wasn't a mean laugh. "Are you trying to get her to notice your hair?"

Amity swayed a little bit, eyes still on her feet, trying to think of a good way to explain what she meant. Finally, she mumbled, "I like it when she plays with my hair."

"We all like it when people play with our hair," Ed said, with a shrug.

"Oh yeah, it's top tier," Em agreed. "That's not embarrassing." 

Ed picked her up and swung her onto his back. "Mittens is growing up, Em! She's got a girlfriend who plays with her hair!"

Em touched her back, which was very nice. "Has she not played with your hair in a bit? Is that why you were mounting expeditions into Ed's hair care shelf?"

"Yeah," Amity stared into her brother's mass of moss green hair. "It feels good when she does it. But she hasn't. And I just...wanted her to do it again. I know it's dumb. I just...I like it. I mean, I tolerate it!"

"It's not dumb, remember how I said we like it too?" Ed gave her a playful little jolt. "Unless you could possibly be accusing your favourite siblings of being dumb!"

"You're my only siblings," Amity said, but smiled.

"I bet we could come up with a scheme to get her to play with your hair," Ed continued. "I know! We'll lie. I'll tell her she needs to play with your hair for good luck."

"Or," Em cut in. "You could just ask her."

Amity stared at her, head cocked to the side as she took that in.  _ Ask _ Luz to play with her hair? "What if she says no?"

"Why would she say no?" Ed asked.

"I...don't know."

"You have to take that chance," Em told her, hiding a grin. "You know that saying. If you want the rewards of being loved you've got to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known."

" _ What? _ " Both Ed and Amity said at once.

"I read it somewhere," Em said, tossing her hair casually. "It means you have to take the chance and go through revealing what you want, and the sort of person you are, and take the risk of rejection and embarrassment before you can get what you really want."

Ed and Amity looked at each other, nonplussed, both thinking some variation of _ Blights revealing how they feel? No way. _

"I could also just put weird stuff in my hair til she touches it."

"Or you could ask!" Em booped her nose, which was also mortifying, though not  _ as _ mortifying as openly asking Luz for affection. "Just ask, okay? I'm sure it'll go well. Luz is sweet."

Ed rubbed his chin, eyes narrowed thoughtfully as they came within sight of Hexside. "Just  _ ask _ ," he repeated. "Hey, Mittens? Like, out of ten, how mad would mom and dad be if I asked Willow out?"

"Three thousand."

"And you'd definitely be in trouble," Em reminded him.

"I like those odds," Ed said, dropping his sister. "I find her cannibalistic shrubbery intriguing and wish to know more. Good luck asking your girlfriend for affection!"

"Don't tell  _ anyone _ ," Amity hissed as she paused by her siblings. "And...and thanks."

School dragged by. Luz wasn't in any of her mid-week classes, and Amity felt like she might vibrate out of her chair with anxiety the closer the time drew to when they'd arranged to meet. An entire day without seeing Luz was too long. It meant she started  _ yearning _ . Day dreaming of soft brown skin, of warm eyes, of how well they worked in tandem. 

She would never keep up Top Student at this rate. Far too much _sighing_. Definitely too much _doodling her first name and Luz's second name_ _all over her notes!_

Way too much of that. 

What she wanted she didn't have the vocabulary for. She had a hunger that was appeased whenever she was close to her human, an itch that was only scratched when she had at least one limb touching Luz's. Something that grew and grew and was satiated by waking up from sleepovers with Luz's arms around her, with their light kisses, but also  _ wasn't _ quite satisfied with that for long and kept growing hungrier and hungrier for something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Em was right. She wanted more affection, more of Luz touching her. And she could only get that by... _ asking _ . Oh boy.

After school, returning to the Owl House, she remained quiet, trying to find the perfect words. It was hard to formulate the right request, to make it bullet proof. What would be the right combination of words that would lead to the dream scenario of resting her head in Luz's lap while Luz talked about Azura and played with her hair?

Luz had noticed the quiet and was trying to talk enough for both of them. "Anyway, I think it's cool that you were captain of the grudgby team, because I kept trying out for cheer practice and I had this amazing dream of being head cheerleader and dating the captain of the football team - football's kinda like grudgby - and now I am!"

"Wait, really?" Oh boy. She'd really wanted to date a cheerleader. Her face burned. Luz was perfect. Well, not perfect. But perfect for her.

"Yeah! Are you okay? You're being super quiet," as they approached the house, Hooty began to slide out of the door to approach Luz, only to spot Amity and squawk in horror. Luz ignored him and opened the door. "Eda! Lilith! King! We're home!"

"Hey Luz," Eda said from the kitchen, where she appeared to be attempting to play cards with Lilith. "Dinner's whenever this loser admits she's lost and starts cooking."

"We're even, Eda!" Lilith steepled her fingers.

"Loser cooks dinner," Luz whispered. "They've drawn every evening this week."

"What happens when they draw?" Amity whispered back.

"They argue until they get too hungry to keep arguing and then both cook."

Expected. Amity waved to her former mentor before following Luz up the stairs to her room. They laid out their books on the floor and Amity picked up a book she'd already read on Abominations and held it without reading any of the words. Now was the time. Now was when she should say it. But the right sentence hadn't formed in her head yet. Nothing felt correct. Em was wrong. Asking wasn't the right way! It was too embarrassing!

"Amity, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine!"

"You're holding your book upside down."

Amity stared at the page she was on, and then closed the book. She looked at the floorboards and took in a deep breath, her hands loose fists in her lap. She looked up at Luz, eyes serious. How did she say this?

Luz cocked her head to one side, and was so absolutely adorable that Amity found herself knocked spinning. "Can you play with my hair?"

"Wha--"

"Forget I said it!"

"You want me to play with your hair?" Luz asked, leaning in. 

"No! Yes! Yes I do! But it's dumb! Don't worry about it!"

Luz placed both hands on her shoulders, and the effect was immediately calming. Amity took in a deep breath, like someone surfacing from a deep dive. "I can do that. I'd love to play with your hair!"

Amity took another gulping breath in, trying to steady her heart.  _ Yes. _ She'd said yes. She leaned in close, eyes bright and said, "it feels good when you do. So…"

"So…" Luz said, and put her hand on top of Amity's head, her tongue sticking out. "Splat."

She closed her eyes as Luz ran her fingers through her hair. She was gentle, careful, the effect massaging and pleasant. She made a little braid and then combed it out with her fingers. She let Amity lay her head on her shoulder and stroked her hair. Her fingertips left a warm tingling sensation over Amity's scalp, and they both laughed softly at how pleasant this was, how Amity had snuggled into her, "like a cat," Luz told her, those demon things that King liked to watch wrestle on Luz's phone.

They stayed like that for a while Luz’s fingers were trailing through her undercut, the tips of her nails rubbing against Amity’s scalp and that felt so nice that her breath kept catching in her chest as it happened. “Hey,” Luz said, leaning in close enough that their foreheads touched,  _ how did she still not understand that leaning in close was too much for Amity’s poor lesbian heart to handle _ , “your undercut is growing out!”

“Is it?” Amity asked, face very red. Must be from the tonic earlier. “Um, I’ll...um.” Words were suddenly hard. Luz was gently scratching her scalp, her thumb rubbing the back of her neck, her weight warm on Amity's knees, and Amity was losing the ability to even  _ breathe _ right. “Um. I gotta...fix that...”

“I can cut it for you, if you want! I’ve cut hair before!” Luz said, proudly. “My own. But, still.”

“Um,” came the reply. 

Amity couldn’t speak. Luz finally took her hand away, gently cupping Amity’s red hot cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Mmhm! Yeah! I’m fine!” She was not fine. Her heart felt like it was slamming into her chest at a hundred miles an hour. “I’m great! I’m better than ever!” She was absolutely not fine. She leaned back, trying to get her brain working again. “Usually Emira cuts my hair. I dye it and then she does the, um, trim and the undercut.”

It was nice, one of the things they did together as sisters. Done manually, a tradition from before Em had learned the magic to do it. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, hair tied up on top of her head as Em carefully shaved it in a way that would hide it from their mother. She tried to imagine if letting Luz shave her head would be anywhere near as sisterly, and decided that Luz  _ that _ close to her would probably kill her. 

But it would be a cool way to die, right? No other Blight had ever died of Just Being Very Extremely Gay For A Human before. So, she’d make history there. 

Plus, she really  _ did _ trust Luz with something as big as how she looked. When she looked back, Luz had a sweet little smile on her face and had cocked her head to one side, which just pushed the bats flitting around in her stomach into complete overdrive. She covered her face and Luz caught her and said, “Oh no! What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she mumbled, pulling back. Red faced. Was this the mortifying ordeal Em had talked about? “Do you...I mean. Would you like to do it? Um. My undercut. Would you like to shave it?”

“Yeah!!!” Luz jumped up and into the air, arms outstretched. “It’s gonna look so cool! And your hair back there is  _ so soft _ I can’t wait to play with it!” Amity sank like liquid to the floor.  _ Playing with her hair _ . How was Luz so good at identifying the thing that would immediately murder her and then doing it? Luz wrapped her arms around her and kissed her on the cheek and Amity went limp. “Wait, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep.” Just dying. 

“Okay,” Luz helped her up, and pulled her to a chair. “You sit here. I’ll get the scissors.”

Scissors??? Em used clippers! Amity opened her mouth, and then considered the risk of saying something and losing this moment. She could bear having an ugly haircut for a bit if it meant a few minutes of Luz’s fingers in her hair. She sat obediently and leaned forward, face burning with the strength of her blush. She was taller than Luz was, by half an inch or so, but she felt so small compared to the bright light of her fearless champion.

“Okay, so if I remember right, you gotta brush it out,” Luz was saying. “I’ve got a brush!” Amity took out her hair band, ready for that, and then looked around questioningly when Luz was silent. Luz was staring at her, red cheeked. “Sorry. I’ve never seen you with your hair down before.”

“It looks almost the same as when my hair is up,” Amity said, feeling secretly pleased. 

“You are  _ so cute _ ,” Luz told her and hugged her around the chair. Almost too much to bear. "I can't believe  _ I _ get to kiss you!"

"I can't believe I get to kiss you back," she replied, red faced, smiling like a dummy, so in love.

Luz brushed her hair with a look of deep and intense concentration on her face. Amity kept looking straight ahead, concentrating on staying still, on being good. Luz tied Amity's hair up on top of her head, leaving the unruly part at the back that hadn't taken to Ed's hair cut technique (or had been left on purpose) out. Amity sat very still as she heard the gentle clip of scissors moving, and felt her heart leap when the first stray chunks of hair hit her neck and shoulders. This was it. She could feel Luz's concentration, the way she ran her fingers over Amity's neck.

It didn't take long before Luz was saying, uncharacteristically nervous, "Okay! It's a little uneven, but I hope you like it…"

Amity reached back as Luz went to find a mirror and found that it  _ wa _ s a mess back there. Long chunks of hair next to shaved spots, parts where Luz had accidentally cut off a little too much off the top of her head. That wasn't good. 

But she found that she was alright with it, especially when Luz finally found two mirrors so that Amity could properly survey the back of her head. Oh no. It was bad! But when she shook the rest of her hair out of its protective ponytail, it was sort of hidden, a secret monument to her human. "I like it," she said, mostly liking the idea over the execution. "Really, Luz."

Luz seemed to relax, drawing a hand across her forehead. "Oh, phew! I was so worried you wouldn't!" 

Amity pulled her hair back up, looking at the back of her head in the mirrors. It was bad, but she could wear it for a few weeks and at that point Em could fix it. She dropped her hair and realised that Luz had cut a bit too much; the hair at the back had gaps that she could see the undercut through. Oh, that was bad. Mom would ask questions. Oh dear.

"I really enjoyed getting it," Amity said. "It's comfortable."

Fondly, Luz rubbed the back of her girlfriend's head. "It was really nice to play with your hair. I gotta do this again."

Amity blushed hard, sliding down in her seat. "You...you really should."

"Kid!" Eda was calling from the hallway. "You up here?"

"Oh, Eda!" Luz went to the door and leaned out. "What d'you need?"

"Lily's trying to beat King at Hexes Hold'em," there was a snort-laugh. "She hasn't realised he eats the cards when he's losing. Can you go get the bucket for when he starts throwing them up again?"

"Aw, no! The regurgitated wild card is always the worst! Amity, I'll be back in a moment, okay?" She dropped a kiss to the top of Amity's head before sprinting out.

As Luz ran out of the room, Amity heard footsteps approaching, followed by a “knock-knock.” Eda the Owl Lady, was leaning into the room, an unimpressed look on her face as she surveyed the aftermath of the haircut. “Wow. She’s  _ really _ done a number on you, kid.”

“No! No, it looks-- it looks fine! I love it.”

“Yuh-huh.” Eda made a circle in the air with her finger, and Amity felt her hair shift in her scalp. She winced and put a hand to the back of her head, only to find it evened out cleanly. A perfect example of an undercut. “I didn’t mean the haircut, for the record.” The witch stepped into the room, grabbing a second chair and dragging it over to sit opposite Amity, arms folded. “I meant more in general. I haven’t seen anyone get this soft since my sister’s last big crush.”

Amity went red. It was...nice, in a way, to be compared to Lilith. She looked at the floor, bottom lip sticking out. “I’m not soft!”

“Right, and King isn’t adorable when he rage-squeaks.” Eda patted her head, ruffled her hair out of place. “You have to learn how to not let a crush overcome everything, you know?”

“I don’t!”

“Were you just going to walk out of here with the back of your head looking like it was attacked by a crazy gardener?” 

“I…” yes. She had been. Amity sank in her seat, pushing Eda’s hand away. “I liked it!”

“You are  _ so soft _ .” Eda snort laughed and leaned back in her chair with a grin. “Look, it’s fine, kid. Luz has a way of melting everyone’s heart. Even Lilith’s. You have a crush. It’s okay to moon over her.”

Amity looked at her feet. Eda the Owl Lady was a wanted criminal, but for a moment she felt a spark of understanding between them. Luz had broken down their walls, made room for herself in their hearts. They both loved her, in their own ways. She looked up at Eda, fearful of being rejected or pushed away, and said, quickly: “I know it’s dumb because my hair looked  _ genuinely  _ bad but I actually liked it because it would mean that I’d carry a little bit of her everywhere. That’s dumb, isn’t it? That’s dumb.”

“It’s not dumb,” Eda told her, and her eyes were kind. “You keep a lot of things secret, huh?”

“What?”

“Luz told me you have a secret room in the library, away from your house. Your burned up Willow’s entire brain to keep a secret safe,” at that reminder, Amity winced. “The secret Azura book club thing. All these secret drawings you hide in books that Luz finds." Oh no. She'd have to follow  _ that _ up. "You keep all these guards up.” This time when Eda rested her hand on Amity’s head, she didn’t push it away. “And that’s alright, as long as you're not hiding  _ everywhere. _ As long as there’s somewhere you can feel safe. People you can feel safe around. It’s a lot of work, keeping your guard up. Gets exhausting, always being on the run, always on the defense. Believe me, I know.”

“It…” Amity stared at their feet. “It really does.” Her shoes were almost as big as the Owl Lady's. But the heels the older witch wore were longer than any Amity had ever dared to try. She liked them. But how was Eda able to run in them? A mystery for another time. "I don't…I don't have a place like that." She only really had the library and anyone could pull out a copy of The Lone Witch and the Secret Room and stumble upon her. "I only have the library," she mumbled.

“It's alright, kid. You can always feel safe at The Owl House,” Eda told her. “You're safe here. Even though you've tried to fully murder Hooty twice. This place is still safe. We'll definitely tease you. But none of us are gonna  _ hurt _ you. If nothing else, us weirdos have to stick together. Even the ones who’re only weird in secret.” It felt like there was a big clamp over her chest. Amity looked up at Eda and felt a strange feeling of trust overcome her. “Sides, I remember Odalia Blight from when I was at Hexside. Complete  _ jerk _ . If you wanna keep secrets from her, you're safe keeping 'em here."

Should she say something? Maybe she should put some trust in this strange woman who was being so kind. "I'm," she started. And then, before she could think of what she was saying, "I'm gay," tumbled out of her mouth. "I.. I only like girls. And I really like Luz."

"Well, yeah. I know. I've interacted with you for more than a moment," Eda shrugged and grinned, her golden fang catching the light. "You've kept that a secret all this time?"

"Yeah. I guess...not very well?" Amity couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, which turned into a giggle as something like a floodgate burst open deep inside. She was breathless all of a sudden, tears prickling her eyes. Eda ruffled her hair, and she looked up, eyes watering, and said, “thanks, mom.”

They both froze, witnesses to a horrifying event. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to her in her entire life. 

“Hey!” Luz said, stepping in. “I managed to burp King, and now Lilith is chasing him around the house looking for her missing cards. What’s going on? Did I miss any bonding and/or heartwarming moments?”

Okay, what had just happened had been terrible and all, but  _ scratch that _ . Luz finding out she called the Owl Lady mom would be absolutely the worst thing that could  _ ever _ happen to her.  _ Ever. _

“Nothing is going on!” Amity said, pulling back so far she fell out of her chair.

“Did you say something about your mom?” Luz asked, concerned, helping her back up.

“Nope!” 

“Can’t tell if I’m more offended by what you called me or the quick denial,” Eda shook her head as she stood up to leave. “Either way, this will haunt me forever.”

Luz slipped an arm around Amity's shoulders as Eda left, her fingers reaching up to fondly rub through Amity's fresh undercut. Amity shivered, her head resting on Luz's shoulder. If Luz noticed it was more even, she didn't say anything. For a moment, they were calm and warm. She closed her eyes, leaning into her human, feeling her heart and bile sack beat slowly. Luz's fingers were creating a gentle rhythm as they scratched against her scalp. "Can I touch your ears?" She asked, mouth working before her brain even realised that was something she wanted.

"Sure!" Luz told her, leaning in. Her ears were so round and sweet. Amity caught her face in both hands and rubbed her thumbs over both of Luz's ears, her smile growing until her cheeks ached. Boscha had teased Luz about her ears, but to Amity they were beautiful. Everything about Luz was beautiful. "It really does tickle," Luz told her, her nose wrinkling, her smile wide. Amity dropped a kiss on her forehead. 

"No make-outs!" Eda called from down the hall, as though she'd guessed.

"We're just touching each other's ears!" Luz called back.

"That's just as bad!"

"Luz!" Amity hissed, red-faced. Luz reached out and stroked her ears, thumb tracing the edges in the way that made a million flowers explode in Amity's stomach. For a moment they sat there, gazing into each other's eyes, fingers tracing the shape of alien ears. Her girlfriend was smiling at her and she was smiling back, lightheaded, warm all through. She leaned in to kiss Luz again, but Luz was stepping back.

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" She threw herself towards a corner of the room, landing on her knees and retrieving a box. She held it up above her head with triumph on her face. "I made you a present!"

"You didn't have to," Amity said, already vowing to keep it forever and ever. Whatever it was, she was never going to be without it.

"It's-- remember, we talked about the flags? I made one. I got Eda to help me. It was hard! We needed soooo much witch's wool. Have you heard of it?"

"Witch's wool? The anti-magic--"

"Yep! Took us a  _ while _ to find some, everyone's stocking up lately. But Eda says she 'acquired it legally' and I totally believe her." Luz was talking a lot. Amity was beginning to recognise this as nerves, anxiety, worry about messing up. She came to sit next to her, reaching to rest her hand on Luz's to calm her. "I dyed all the pieces myself," her girlfriend said, softer. "Um. I hope you like it."

What she pulled out was a cloak. Five colourful stripes on the inside, dark blue on the outside. She turned it over and over. The outside was the same smooth blue of Luz's cloak. The inside was bright with blocks of colour. One stripe was the same shade of pink as her abomination track uniform. That was what drew her eye first. She ran her fingers across the material. Five stripes. Orange, light orange. White. Pink. Dark pink. Her heart was doing that funny thing where it felt like it was soaring and her cheeks were aching from smiling. "I love it," she said, and meant it. 

Luz was grinning back at her. "That is  _ so _ good to hear! I dyed mine too," she grabbed her own cloak, showing three stripes on the inside: pink, blue and purple. "Yours is the colours of the lesbian pride flag and this is the bi pride flag, see? Do you love it?"

Amity vaguely understood that pride in romantic identity was important in Luz's home world. That people taking pride in themselves was radical and deeply wonderful. But the pride she felt right now was all about how it felt to have a girlfriend who would so happily make something like this for her, who would share her own culture even when making something that would be so useful for Amity. Her parents had had plans to gift her a witch's wool cloak once she graduated Hexside, she knew. But this blew that idea of a gift out of the water. She hugged it close to her chest, and then pulled it around herself. She took the edges in both of her hands and pulled it wide behind her, grinning so hard that the small adult fangs that had begun to grow in her mouth showed clear. 

She was proud. It was an overwhelming feeling, light in her chest. She  _ was _ proud. But the pride that was filling her now was all bound up in how she felt about  _ Luz _ . She was proud she knew Luz. She was proud she had a girlfriend who wanted to look after her with an anti-magic cloak. She was proud her girlfriend loved her. Amity leaned in and kissed her, and felt her heart skip a beat when Luz wrapped her up in her new cloak and pulled her close. For the first time, she opened her mouth in that kiss and felt the way her girlfriend's tongue gingerly flicked out into her mouth, gently touched her teeth.

This was her first open mouth kiss. With her arms around Luz, she could feel her human shaking. Nervous, scared. She reciprocated, her own tongue gently, hesitantly, skating over the line of straight, small, less sharp human teeth, marveling at the sensation. Their tongues met, and Luz's was warm. Her hormones, already pretty turbulent, spiked.

Luz was the person to close this off to take a breath, and Amity chased her mouth for another kiss. Their lips trembled as they met and all thoughts left her brain but  _ I like this so much _ and  _ I wonder if Luz likes this as much as I like it? _ and  _ how can I do this for forever? Is there a coven all about kissing humans or can I still go into the emperor's coven and just say this is research or something? _

They broke away to catch their breath, and were both leaning in for another round of this strange but good tongue first exploration when Eda called out from downstairs, "I said no making out!"

They both sprang apart as though shocked. Luz was flushed all red, and she knew she was too. They both giggled, turning into a burst of laughter. Luz drew her in close, fastening her cloak around her shoulders for her, and Amity gazed up at her. She was taller than Luz. But she'd always stood a little apart from her and leaned in, which made her seem smaller. She didn't know why she did that. Fear of being seen too close. Fear of her parents. Fear of Luz finally coming to her senses and rejecting her. 

She did also enjoy the sensation of being held in Luz's arms, of feeling small and vulnerable and taken care of. She did very much enjoy that. She'd had to be her own champion for so long, the pawn of her mother and father, that having someone want to step in was...nice. It was nice to feel like Luz would pick up her slack. It was easier to be strong when there was someone to support her. She'd worked so hard on her own for so long. Now there was someone in her corner. She could rest, and know Luz still had her back.

At this point in her Azura fanfics, Azura was usually swearing eternal love to Hecate.

She wasn't sure she was ready to say that yet. But she pressed her forehead to Luz's and gazed deep into her eyes and said, "I'm so glad I know you." 

The words slipped out without her thinking about them, like her horrifying  _ thanks mom _ earlier, but this felt...better. More natural. She felt relief when she said it, not a panicked clamping.

"Te quiero," Luz told her.

"Te quiero," she whispered back. The words felt like a magic spell she'd never heard of, some sort of incantation. The effect was immediate, a wide smile on Luz's face, a blush, a giggle. Those words did that? She leaned in, fascinated, and said, "te quiero," again, "Te quiero, te quiero," not knowing what she was saying but seeing the effect, (the blush, the  _ grin _ ), and loving it.

Luz laughed, leaning into her until they were cuddled in under her new cloak. "I'm gonna teach you Spanish, okay? It can be our secret."

That was an even better secret than the undercut, she thought, her stomach flipping. It was one she could hide inside her skull, inside her mouth. "Teach me," she said, leaning in, eyes wide and glittering, filled with stars, mouth set in determination. 

Their lips met, but this kiss was chaste. Luz pressed her forehead to Amity's, and they were under her cloak and had formed their own world together. Nothing existed outside of them. "Te quiero," Luz said softly.

"I think I know what that means already," Amity said, emotions squeezing in her heart. They were more complex than happy or sad. They were bound strongly into her, strongly around Luz: a someone-thought-of-me pride in her chest, a joy that she felt in the muscles of her face, a hot sensation of wanting in her arms. The squeeze of gratitude at being taken care of in her throat, the delight of seeing Luz respond the same way she did. Those two words meant all of these things, all at once. She reached out and scooped Luz into her lap, enfolding her in her cloak, drinking her in with her eyes. The weight of her in her arms was warm and solid. Perfect.

Luz's fingers moved to her undercut, and then to the points of her ears. Her smile was so big and so beautiful that Amity tried to commit it to permanent memory. "I think so too, cariño."


End file.
